Once their shelter and food supply were secured, Lazarus turned his attention inward. If this truly was the Grand Line, he knew the kind of dangers that lurked beyond the island—pirates with bounty posters worth fortunes, bounty hunters with more ambition than conscience, sea kings that could swallow ships whole, and other horrors he couldn't even name yet.
Stepping into that world as he was now would be nothing short of suicide. So, he trained.
He was realistic about it—his body was already that of an adult, its natural growth long past the explosive gains of youth. He wouldn't have the same advantage as those top fighters who had been swinging weapons or trading blows since childhood.
He also didn't think he would have the same dedication as Coby, that was able to become an elite powerhouse in the world in just 2 years of training.
But Lazarus wasn't aiming to become the next Pirate King overnight. Even if he never reached the level of legends, he could still carve out enough strength to survive—and maybe win—when it mattered.
Besides, this world had… shortcuts.
Devil Fruits.
In the right hands, the right fruit could turn the weakest man into a force to be reckoned with. And in his case, there was something else too—The system.
The thought made him pause mid-rep. Come to think of it, he hadn't checked the thing since the day Dobby arrived. Between finding food, building shelter, and avoiding whatever predators lurked deeper inland, it had completely slipped from his mind.
Well… better late than never.
Lazarus quickly open the system panel that he hadn't checked in a while. A notification, unopened envelope greeted his eyes. The moment he opened it, the light pulsated and information enters his eyes.
[First Summon Reward!]
You have successfully summoned your first companion in this world.
Reward has been triggered. Please "accept" to claim.
…
Accept.
[Congratulations! You've inherited Elf Magic. Summon 5 more companions to trigger the next reward!]
"Magic?" Lazarus froze. He hurriedly tested it, and he now feels something flowing throughout his body that wasn't there before—although it was weak, it exist.
[Summon Requirement: 500,000 Berries]
Lazarus couldn't help but get excited. However, he forcefully calm himself down. He navigated the system panel as he didn't want to repeat the mistake he did before, which led to getting magic much later.
[Current Accumulation: 0/500,000]
"It seems we're not getting any new companion for a while." After completing investigating the system, he closed the panel and let out a faint sigh.
However, he was not disappointed and quickly look for Dobby to ask him teach magic. Although he may not know much, Dobby should be able to give some insight how to use this power.
---
Lazarus found Dobby near the shoreline, crouched over a row of shells he was carefully arranging into some sort of spiraling pattern.
"Dobby," Lazarus called, jogging over, "I need you to teach me magic."
The elf tilted his head, large green eyes blinking with doubt. "Only wizards and magic creatures like Dobby can use magic sir. Muggles—unless they are born wizard—cannot."
Lazarus shook his head. "That's the thing. I do have magic. I can feel it—like… a weak current running through me."
Dobby straightened, his long ears perking in curiosity. "Sir Lazarus… has magic?"
"Yes. And if I have it, I can learn to use it. You've been casting magic your whole life, right? Just… tell me how you do it. Doesn't matter if it's rough or incomplete, I just need a starting point."
Dobby tapped his chin, thinking. "Hmm… Dobby was never taught. House-elves do not go to school for magic like wizards. I... I just learn it."
"Instinctively?" Lazarus nodded, trying to wrap his head around it.
"Yes!" Dobby nodded vigorously, his ears flapping. "Sometimes with words, sometimes without. But, wizard and house-elf magic sir is not the same."
"It's okay, just tell me what you feel or think when you make things float." Lazarus nodded and said. After all, the magic he has is not wizard, but elf magic like Dobby.
After dragging Dobby to discuss magic, Lazarus was satisfied. Maybe Elf Magic is more natural and instinctual, he was now able to use magic to make things float.
He even tried recalling some spells he knows that would be useful for survival and combat to try them out. However, his magic capacity is not yet high.
Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and not a single ship appeared on the horizon. The only movement beyond the tides were the distant silhouettes of seabirds, gliding in lazy arcs far from shore.
For Lazarus and Dobby, the absence of rescue was no longer a surprise—it was the default.
Yet their time was not wasted.
In the morning, they begun physical workouts. Then, they would improve their shelter by noon, and heavy works are used to further train their magic. Even Dobby, who just joined out of curiousity become competetive.
The days passed quickly, the little camp Lazarus had with Dobby slowly turning from a wind-toppled disaster zone into something resembling an actual base. Dobby was still proudly presenting his "architectural masterpieces," which mostly consisted of leaning walls, uneven floors, and one particular hut that collapsed the moment Lazarus touched it. Still, under Lazarus's guidance — and with a fair amount of magical reinforcement — the buildings started lasting longer than a day.
But it wasn't just construction that filled Lazarus's time. The more he explored the island, the more he realized this wasn't just any chunk of land in the middle of nowhere.
Beyond the safe, shallow beaches lay dense, untamed jungle, and deeper still… the kind of roars that made the ground tremble.
If he wanted to survive beyond this word, he needed more than a good shelter — he needed battle instincts.
"Dobby, I'm going in there," Lazarus said one morning, pointing toward the darker heart of the jungle.
Dobby's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Sir Lazarus is not going to get himself eaten by giant, horrid creatures! No, no, no—"
"That's the point," Lazarus interrupted, tightening the rope on his spear. "We need to build our strength before we meet something worse out there."
The first few days were rough. A single swipe from a scaled beast twice his height could send Lazarus crashing through bushes, his ears ringing. Sometimes, the danger came too fast — a flash of claws, a hiss of venom — and then there'd be the sharp pop! of magic as Dobby grabbed him and Apparated them back to their base.
"Sir Lazarus nearly lost his head," Dobby would mutter, shaking and holding onto him as if Lazarus might evaporate.
But Lazarus didn't stop. Each day, he pushed deeper, moving quieter, reacting faster. His spear strikes and raw magic grew sharper, his footing surer.
Dobby began watching him closely during these fights, ready to pull him away but also starting to… trust him a little. And sometimes, when the tide of battle turned in their favor, Dobby would even join in — flinging rocks with magic, tripping beasts with roots, or sending them tumbling with an unexpected gust of wind.
Little by little, the island stopped feeling like a death trap and started feeling like a place they could master — together.
While venturing deeper into the island's uncharted interior, Lazarus stumbled upon a curious sight—half-buried in the sand beneath a twisted, moss-covered tree lay a fruit familiar, yet unlike anything he had ever seen. Its surface was patterned with swirls and strange markings, as though it had been carved by an artist rather than grown by nature. The color was difficult to describe—shifting between light brown and black whenever the sunlight broke through the canopy.
Dobby looked over curiously as Lazarus crouched and brushed away the sand. Lazarus said happily. "Dobby, I think we found a Devil Fruit!"
"A Devil?!" Dobby was horrified as he looked at the strange fruit.
"Not a devil, but a devil fruit. Also known as the secret treasure of the sea." Lazarus shoon his head and explained. "This fruit contains power similar to magic, but whoever ate it will be hated by the sea and would no longer be able to swim."
Dobby poked the fruit lightly with his finger, recoiling as if it would bite him back. "So, Sir Lazarus will eat it?"
"Not yet." Lazarus shook his head. "I don't know what kind of Devil Fruit this is, but we can keep it for now and decide once I found what kind of Devil Fruit this is. If it's not worth keeping, we can sell it as a starting fund for our business."
Lazarus paused for a moment and looked at Dobby. "Or if you want, you can eat it now. Perhaps it would have ability that let us get out of this island."
"Dobby, will listen to what sir decide." Dobby responded, neither agreeing or disagreeing.
"Well, let's keep it for now." As his first companion, Lazarus didn't want Dobby to fall short in the future. They can still wait for a rescue—if not, then he can only gamble on the devil fruit's ability or when he build enough confidence to sail across the sea.